Artist's Statement

If there's one philosophy that unifes my portfolio, both in my creative art and commercial work, it's that I like all of my work to feel finished, resolved, and complete. I've always admired artists who treat their artwork and design carefully and deliberately because I feel that it respects a viewer's limited time and attention. It's hard to walk through the Met in New York and not be amazed by the fanatical mastery put into every square inch many Renaissance paintings. Whether it's animation, graphic design, art, or anything else, I like my work to feel "done."

A lot of my creative artwork and animation is a little offbeat and a little strange. I think this is what happens when you grow up in Alaska and your favorite tapes as a kid were readings of Edgar Allen Poe. I often try to pick subject matter and compositions that are uncommon, unusual, or a little eerie. With artwork, I like adding text to images because, as in voiceovers in animation, it can add another rich dimension to the piece. Regardless of whether or not they have text, the images that I like creating the most are the ones that have some thematic depth; the ones that create a backstory and raise a few eyebrows, and a few more questions.

Of course, with commercial design the goals are different. I think that the best explanation for the difference between art and design is that with art, the goal is to create emotion, wheras with design, the goal is to encourage a specific outcome in the viewer (such as buying a product or liking a political candidate). So when it comes to commercial design, the strategy that I employ depends entirely on the client and the goal. In general, I like to keep my designs modern and straightforward but also retain some elegance and aesthetic appeal. Everyone wants to make "clean" designs right now but there's definitely such a thing as too clean. I always aim to follow industry standards while also exercising some creativity when it comes to good typography and usability.